Connecticut State Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services

Office of Recovery Community Affairs

Picture of a tree lined road in autumn with the text "Recovery is a journey with many pathways to your destination.

Chyrell D. Bellamy, PhD, MSW, Acting Director, (203) 444-2219 (cell), chyrell.bellamy@yale.edu

Cheri Bragg, Assistant Director, (860) 418-6935, Cheri.Bragg@ct.gov 

The Office of Recovery Community Affairs acts as a liaison to people in recovery, their families, friends, and other allies, grassroots and statewide recovery organizations, as well as represents DMHAS in national organizations and events. This office assures meaningful contact, input, and dialogue with diverse representatives of the recovery community and plays a significant role in guiding policy decisions and strategic planning to promote a person and family-centered, recovery oriented, system of care.

NEW - Connecticut Peer/Recovery Support Certification Process: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The following three peer support trainings are currently endorsed in Connecticut:

CT Recovery Supporters Ethics Values and Principles 

CT RSS Training Curriculum Core Components and Competencies

 

 Illustration of a tree with roots and the text "Uprooting Addiction. Healing from the ground up." 

Uprooting Addiction is an urgent look at the national drug addiction crisis that is ravaging local communities across the U.S., including the filmmakers’ own in Northwest Connecticut. At an innovative retreat organized by addiction and trauma counselor Hope Payson (LCSW, LADC), six people from varying walks of life — each affected by childhood trauma — come together to share their stories, emerging from darkness through community, connection, and compassion.

Through the metaphor of a tree bearing a network of roots, Payson helps each attendee recognize the foundation of their trauma —abandonment, learning differences, sexual molestation, violence — and how it manifests and permeates through life, opening the door to fundamental healing. Interweaving these stories with uplifting, up-to-the-minute accounts of collective action in the face of a growing public health crisis — from an equally diverse group of activists, officials, volunteers, caregivers, and experts — Uprooting Addiction is a mosaic-like portrait of a single community coming together to take on one of the most critical challenges of our times.

DMHAS has made this important film available to view for free for a limited time. Click here to watch.

 

For issues regarding client rights and grievances contact William Pierce, 860-418-6933, william.pierce@ct.gov or go to Client Rights and Grievances.